The present application relates to lateral bipolar transistors, and more particularly, to germanium-based lateral bipolar transistors.
Germanium has a narrower band gap than silicon, and provides a great potential for providing a fast lateral bipolar transistor that operates at low voltages. A silicon-based lateral bipolar transistor typically operates at about 1 V, while a germanium-based lateral bipolar transistor typically operates at about 0.6 V. However, the base current in the germanium-based device is observed to be relatively high due to the recombination at the germanium/insulator interface within the emitter-base space charge region which is caused by interface defects. Therefore, there remains a need to reduce germanium/insulator interface defects for developing high performance germanium-based lateral bipolar transistors.